Redecorate, or move to Hartlepool: your choice. How the housing market affects Londoners

he UK property market is breaking records since the end of lockdown. ‘Sales agreed’ across the country from mid-July to mid-August add up to more than £37 billion. In London, instead of the usual summer slowdown. we’ve had the highest number of homes being put up for sale since March 2008.

Rightmove say they are seeing a notable shift out of London and the South-East – the only two regions to see monthly price falls. This is partly fuelled by more remote working and a post-lockdown desire for more space – not to mention the stamp duty holiday. But even so, the average asking price in London figure is up two per cent to £629,000.Other industry figures seem to agree that, while the current surge may be caused by a short-term backlog, the future of London’s property market seems stable.

All of which, believe it or not, made me think. There seem to be two choices: either we stay put in London, or we up sticks to Hartlepool / Workington / Cleethorpes. (For any soft southerners reading this – Yes, those are real places).

Either way, we’ll be wanting to our property to look its best, and those walls won’t paint themselves.

So I can tell you that business in the decorating world is brisk, with no sign of slowing down. Good news for yours truly. I get into far less trouble when I’m busy with work.

There’s a lot of regular seasonal exterior decorating to be done, and it’s always best to try and get that done before Autumn.

If you’ve been thinking a coat of paint might be a good idea, let us know and we’ll book in a quote visit – or  arrange a Virtual Quote with the new system designed by our evil genius computer man.

Wishing you all the best,

Geoff Parvin

PS: Since I started writing this, I’ve just seen that a Georgian house in Clerkenwell has achieved the highest ever price for a house with an East London postcode: £7.495 million. That kind of money would buy you a lot of whippets.